


Return to Childhood

by Salmaka



Category: The Technomancer (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Brothers, Football, Gen, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-13 04:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16885275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmaka/pseuds/Salmaka
Summary: The fact that Zachariah is almost an adult Mancer doesn't mean he can't enjoy some joys from childhood.





	Return to Childhood

Ezrah and Zach are walking through the Slums together. Side-by-side, talking about nothing particular. Still getting used to the fact they are brothers. Ezrah crashed into Zach’s life only two months back. And although he already knew a big deal about Zach, Ezrah was full of questions.

Yes, they are twins, but they are like two sides of the same coin. So alike and yet so different. Their two different lives they are living have their perks and disadvantages. While one was learning to survive in the Slums, the other was learning how to control his powers. One without a family till now, living on his own, the other found the new one in the Order.

“It was about time that master of yours let you go out.”

“Well, yeah. But you’re lucky Sean likes you. Otherwise he wouldn’t let me hang out with you.”

“He likes me?” Ezrah asks in a hopeful voice.

Zach just does an eyeroll over this side of his twin. “He would like you more if you stopped hitting on him, you know?”

“But you’ve seen him, right? He’s so handsome! I know you have noticed…”

Zach’s face goes red and he quickly looks away so Ezrah won’t see it. Yes, he had a little crush on Sean, as everyone at the Academy. But that’s history, Zach sees Sean more like his father now. It feels right.

The narrow street widens, and the duo walks into a small square where local kids are playing football: two teams of three on each side. The age of the kids varies from six to thirteen. And all of them are running, shouting and generally enjoying the game, their childhood.

“Oh, man! I haven’t played for ages,” Ezrah says after looking at the kids for a minute. Zach can see the nostalgia in his bright eyes.

One of the kids has just scored and he is high-fiving the rest of his team. Their cheering must be too loud because some woman looks out of a window and shouts at them to be quiet. Youngsters go silent, but just for a short time.

Zach uses the short moments of silence to say: “I have never played.”

Rogue stops dead. “You—? Wait,  _ what?! _ ”

Zachariah does two more steps until he notices that his brother is not walking alongside him. He turns to him and says, “We don’t play games at Academy. Our schedule is pretty busy with all the lessons.”

“But… it’s  _ football _ !” Ezrah says, his voice colored with disbelief. Zach can tell that “the fancy school”, how Ez calls the mancer Academy, has just lost a few points. “It’s like a part of growin’ up. It’s a healthy competition, you meet new people, bond over the wins and losses...”

“We have some ‘games’, always connected with the technomancy though. I like them.” The mancer brother shrugs. He really does like them, especially Master Connor’s. These are the best.

“It’s settled, then: we are going to play with ‘em,” Rogue says and points at the group of kids.

“I don’t know… I don’t think they—” Zach starts his excuse but Ez is already halfway to the group. So, he just sighs deeply and follows his twin.

“Hey, kiddos! Would you mind if me and my brother join you?”

Kids look at each and many of them shrug. Then one of the boys nods and kicks the ball to Ezrah who kicks it to his twin.

Mancer looks down at the ball, scratches the back of his neck, knowing he can’t talk his way out of this “adventure”. Then he looks at his brother and asks, “What are the rules?”

“Try to score by kicking the ball between these two crates. Simple as that. And try to not injure anyone, yeah? This ain’t one of your master’s competitions,” Ezrah jokes.

“And I’m guessing we are on the opposite teams to not disturb the numbers?” Ezrah smirks and nods. Some of the kids are already looking bored by this unexpected pause in the game and so Zachariah says, “It’s on,  _ bro _ !”

Ezrah pumps his fist into the air, smiling, and says, “Oh, it’s on!”

For the first few minutes, Zach’s kicks are clumsy and inaccurate. One of his teammates doesn’t want to pass the ball to him, knowing that Zach will mess up their chance to score. One of the mancer’s kicks is so strong that the ball almost hits and breaks a window.

Ezrah, on the other hand, has scored two goals already and is the ace on the team. However, he doesn't dominate the play-time. He passes the ball and encourages his young teammates when they have their chance. Ezrah’s a good team player.

Thanks to the lack of action happening to him, Zach is beginning to feel more like a spectator than the player. However, all changes the moment when, by some miracle, Zach gets the ball. No one expected that so there is no one to prevent him from scoring. He knows there’s no time to waste and shoots.

The goalie tries to catch it, jumping into the way of the flying ball but it’s too late. It’s a goal! Everybody is cheering, but Ezrah is the loudest of them all.

**Author's Note:**

> Ezrah is a collective OC of our Technomancer Discord.


End file.
